the.com/refrain
The chorus you came for, and the willpower you didn't.
means To hold yourself back from doing something, or—in its other life—the repeated line of a song that keeps coming back around.
from Two different rivers feeding one pool. 'Refrain' (the holding back) traces to Latin refrenare, 'to bridle or curb,' built from re- plus frenum, 'a bridle or bit' — the same image of reining in a horse. 'Refrain' (the musical kind) comes through Old French refraindre, from Latin refringere, 'to break back or repeat' — a tune that breaks off and returns. Two unrelated roots that happened to land on the same English spelling: one holds you in check, the other keeps coming back to find you.
- two meanings
- repeated verse or polite act of not doing something
- etymology link
- both come from Latin refrenare, to curb or bridle
- songwriting role
- carries the hook while verses do the storytelling
- self control
- refraining is restraint dressed in formal vocabulary